Z Nation: "We Were Nowhere Near the Grand Canyon"Review

The zunami we saw last season appears to have grown in size by quite a large amount, and this time the group won’t simply be able to simply survive the storm. Desperate and without options, they seek help from a group of natives who live in the area.

I have to say it’s always kind of frustrating when you have educated individuals -- in this case a university professor who goes by the name of Red Hawk -- making bad decisions that are endangering a lot of people without anyone stopping them. It’s especially frustrating when there are so many people willing to blindly follow that sort of decision making.

The natives camping in the cliffs near the Grand Canyon are under the belief that they are perfectly fine where they are and that they will just simply wait out the zombie apocalypse despite what logic would dictate. It’s a belief that is meant to serve the plot but doesn’t make any real sense. There are enough people in the group, mainly the women, who seem to know that they would benefit from actually listening to 10k and the Doc instead of stringing them up as bait. Cooler heads and intelligence should be prevailing, yet everyone is adhering to an ideology that isn’t serving any logical purpose and will only put them in danger.

Exit Theatre Mode

Ayalla, Red Hawk’s sister, makes it clear that a lot of them don’t strictly believe in what her brother is saying but they seem to stick with him. At least she has the common sense to see that they need to do something about the coming zunami.

Doc’s hallucinations were hilarious. Though his astral projection moment was a bit odd it was still funny as well. I guess in a world with zombies, a man who can control zombies with his mind and potential aliens it’s really not that strange to think that there would be astral projection as well.

The situation at the casino was silly for a completely different set of reasons. First of all, I try to suspend my disbelief a lot with this show, but I didn’t believe for a second that leaving the casino was a good idea. On paper that seemed like the safest place for everyone to stay. It had high ground, exits that could be secured and probably enough food and water to survive the storm. Of course, I was proven wrong and the entire thing came crashing down within seconds of making contact with a miles long horde of zombies. Could a building be damaged by prolonged contact with a zombie horde brushing up against its exterior? Sure, but I don’t think for a second it would collapse in mere seconds after the zunami struck. It was an outcome that served the plot saw that the group would be justified in leaving when logically the better bet would have always been the casino. I say this knowing that I am applying logic to an Asylum television show.

Meanwhile, Citizen Z is fending off a bunch of zombies while trying to communicate with the group. This is something that he has been doing since the start of the season. This time however he decides to take out the finale zombie using a rocket launcher. It was a fun little bit but also a bit of a stretch when you consider just smashing the rocket launcher against the zombies head would have delivered the same result. It was a contrived set of circumstances designed to create suspense and serve the plot but it’s fundamentally flawed because there is a far more logical and less dangerous solution available. There was a lot of that this week, which made this episode frustrating to watch.

“We Were Nowhere Near the Grand Canyon” does at least have a strong conclusion. The plan to divert zombies away from the cliff site and into a wall of fire was somewhat inspired, if ripped out of the Rick Grimes Handbook. Murphy’s late reaction came out of nowhere and was easily the most interesting and emotionally engaging moment of the entire episode. He tries to save the zombies by telling them to turn from the fire but that sends them plummeting into the Grand Canyon. His emotional outburst does suggest that the zombies themselves can actually feel what is happening to them. I thought that was interesting; like there may be a thinking mind trapped in there somewhere. If that’s the case, I think Warren is right, it’s best to show them all mercy.

That last scene between Warren and Murphy was great and hinted at what’s to come over the course of the final four episodes. Murphy has a decision to make and it’s coming sooner than later.

The Verdict

"We Were Nowhere Near the Grand Canyon" was a frustrating watch due to the lack of logic behind the decision of the characters. That casino shouldn't have collapsed! Citizen Z shouldn't be using a rocket launcher to kill one zombie!